


A word of advice

by jumpinjulianofnorwich



Category: Call the Midwife
Genre: F/F, Female Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-24 17:54:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7517762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jumpinjulianofnorwich/pseuds/jumpinjulianofnorwich
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Patsy and Trixie start fighting, Delia goes for help in an unexpected place. Some Patsy/Delia fluff, but mostly focused on the friendships between the nurses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Delia had made asking Sister Mary Cynthia for advice a bit of a habit. 

It had started when she’d first moved in and noticed that the windows in her bedroom had a tendency to blow open in a strong wind. The nun had been more than happy to come and show her how she had kept the windows closed, jimmying a piece of cardboard in the latch so it didn’t give way as easily. When Sister Evangelina passed, Patsy and Trixie had withdrawn into themselves, barely leaving their room for anything other than work and food. Delia and Barbara had found themselves talking about it to the nun, who had suggested small acts of kindness that would still give the two women space to grieve. When Delia was studying to receive her midwife’s certificate Sister Mary Cynthia had stumbled on her pouring over books in the kitchen, and had volunteered to demonstrate with the dummy baby they kept close at hand positions that Delia found it especially hard to visualize. 

There was something about the nun that seemed to emanate helpfulness. Even with Delia’s general wariness of the nuns, she found that she liked the mousy girl’s calming demeanor. And there were things about her that intrigued Delia: the attack she had endured the previous spring, which Delia could not help but see as parallel to her own accident despite the different circumstances, the quiet way she talked about her faith which seemed so different from the other nuns, and the fact that, before taking orders, she had been so close with Patsy and Trixie.

It was this last fact that was pertinent to Delia now. They were cleaning up the clinic, Sister Mary Cynthia going over records while Delia sorted the remaining prescriptions. Delia couldn’t help but be a little nervous as she mulled over her question. Not only would she have to word it very carefully, but she did not want to offend the nun by bringing up matters that she had sworn off. 

As she was about to speak, Sister Mary Cynthia glanced over at her worriedly. “Delia, is everything right between Trixie and Patsy? I noticed the two weren’t as…animated at breakfast this morning.” Delia couldn’t help but smile at the nun’s understatement. Patsy and Trixie had not said a word to each other at the table, save for Trixie’s passive aggressive request that Patsy pass the butter.

“I actually wanted to talk to you about that,” Delia said. Sister Mary Cynthia looked puzzled. She rolled over the question in her head again, but eventually pressed forward, encouraged by the nun’s earnest brown eyes. “Pardon me for asking, I don’t know if this is…overstepping but did you…date? Before you joined the order I mean.”

Sister Mary Cynthia smiled. “No not really I’m afraid. I wasn’t a particularly outgoing sort.”

“Didn’t you even go dancing?” Delia asked, somewhat in disbelief.

Sister Mary Cynthia laughed. “I did with Trixie once or twice. But as a dance partner I wasn’t in particularly high demand.” She shrugged. “It didn’t really bother me much though.” 

“Really?” Delia asked. Sister Mary Cynthia fiddled with a pencil, smiling the sort of romantic smile that Delia had only seen on school girls.

“I mean I thought about it certainly. How nice it would be to have the dancing, and the romance, and maybe a wedding. But I never really went after it and, eventually, I just…found something I wanted more.” Delia stared intently at the nun, oddly touched by how similar the sentiments were to her own experience. “Why do you ask?”  
Delia sighed. “How did…Trixie respond? To your not dating.”

The nun chuckled. “Well…Trixie is Trixie. I love her, truly I do, but…sometimes she has trouble seeing that her friends might not want the same things she wants.” The nun absentmindedly touched her habit. “But I had gotten the impression she had eased off romance a little ever since her engagement with Reverend Hereward.”

Delia rubbed her forehead. “She has,” she admitted. “Patsy says she hasn’t gone on a single date since she broke it off with Tom. The worst she gets is insisting we all go to the pictures whenever a new Rock Hudson film comes out.” And has blessedly stopped teasing Patsy for not having a boyfriend, Delia thought to herself. “But last night…well she tried to rope Patsy into something and, well, Patsy wasn’t having it.” The nun nodded, urging the nurse to go on. 

“The two of them both have a day off next Friday and…you know Patsy loves dancing which I suppose is what gave Trixie the idea in the first place. She arranged a double date with a couple of medical interns at the London to go to a jazz club.”

The nun cringed. “She didn’t ask Patsy beforehand?” The nurse shook her head. 

“Nurse Crane eventually had to come break up their shouting match.” Angry though Delia was at Trixie, she couldn’t help but find the memory comical, Trixie and Patsy glaring at each other in their pajamas while Nurse Crane, a fury in a hairnet, lectured them both. “Patsy spent most of the night in my room cooling down, and poor Barbara got caught in the middle of them making jabs at each other in the bathroom this morning. It just…seems like a stupid thing for Trixie to be so pushy about.” 

The nun sighed and gave the nurse a sympathetic look. “To be fair to Trixie, she and Patsy haven’t spent as much time together since….well since she moved out last year. And,” she said trying to keep her voice diplomatic “I think she wasn’t thrilled the two of you planned that trip to Paris on your own.” 

Delia started packing up the unused sample bottles, mulling over the nun’s words. Of course she had noticed the slight tinge of jealousy Trixie felt towards her. If she were being honest with herself Delia had been a little jealous of Trixie when Patsy had first moved into Nonnatus. But she had thought that was mostly behind the two, that living under the same roof had given them the opportunity to share Patsy at least somewhat peacefully. But she couldn’t deny there was some truth to the nun’s words-if nothing else the new distance between the two girls had been made plain when Patsy learned of Trixie’s alcoholism. 

“I suppose I can see that,” Delia admitted. “But that doesn’t give Trixie the right to be upset when Patsy refuses a date that she didn’t ask for in the first place.” 

“No it doesn’t,” the nun admitted “and I’m not saying it does. But, well, I know it’s not hard for you, you’ve known her so long, but for the rest of us it can be hard to tell what Patsy is feeling sometimes. And Trixie has a tendency to take rejection personally.” 

“So what should I do?” Delia asked. 

“I’m not sure I’m the best person to ask,” the nun admitted. “It’s been so long since…well you know.” Delia looked at the nun quizzically, causing her to sigh. “I’m not sure I can really be considered their friend anymore.” 

“But you’ve known Trixie longer than anyone,” Delia protested. “Surely there’s something you can say to her.” 

The nun regarded her oddly for a moment. “Delia…it might be best if we don’t say anything to them. This is a problem the two of them are having, and while I’m sympathetic, I think Trixie is going to have to hear Patsy say that before she lets up.” Delia forcefully shut her nurse’s bag.

“It’s just…so silly,” she said in an exasperated tone, causing the nun to shoot her an amused look. 

“Maybe I will talk to Trixie,” she said thoughtfully as they were walking out the clinic door. “I suppose I do owe Patsy, in a manner of speaking.” The nurse looked at her questioningly. “When I was discerning,” the nun explained “Trixie and Patsy were both…well horrified if I’m being completely honest.” Delia fought back a grin. She was familiar with Patsy’s deep seeded aversion to nuns, a product of her boarding school days. “But ultimately Patsy stuck up for me with Trixie,” the nun continued. “I think…I think she understood the place I was coming from a little bit more than Trixie did.” 

This last piece of information gave Delia pause. She remembered that Christmas, hearing Patsy talk about her friend’s “ridiculous” notion of joining the order, and Trixie’s equally “ridiculous” objections. Patsy had been somewhat caught in the middle, unnerved that someone she liked and trusted was veering into religiosity (that could only involve hating her if she knew Patsy’s secret) and frustrated with Trixie’s shallow objections. After it was all said and done Patsy had not talked about it much, and now Delia realized that she had ultimately sided with the nun. 

“That sounds like Patsy,” Delia admitted soberly. “She tries hard not to judge anyone even if she disagrees with them. And she disagrees with people a lot.”  
“It’s an admirable trait. Not the disagreeing part” she hastily added as the nurse smiled. “But avoiding judgment is usually a good trait in a nurse. And Patsy is an excellent nurse.” The two stepped out of the clinic into the cool night air. The days were starting to get shorter, but even in the dying light there were still children playing in the street. They mounted their equipment on their bikes, Sister Mary Cynthia absorbed in thought. 

“I’ll say something to Trixie,” she said as they were about to mount up. 

“Thank you,” Delia said. 

“If,” the nun continued, “you wouldn’t mind saying something to Patsy. I think it would be helpful if Trixie knew why it bothered her so much.” Delia grimaced. 

“I’m not sure she’ll like me trying to talk her down,” Delia noted. “She’s thoroughly convinced Trixie’s in the wrong on this one. And…frankly I agree with her.” And we can’t very well tell her why she’s so in the wrong, she thought. 

Sister Mary Cynthia smiled kindly. “I know, but if I tell Patsy to talk to Trixie she won’t listen. Or at least not as well as she’ll listen to you.” Delia looked unconvinced. “I don’t know what else to tell you, but Patsy’s far more likely to budge if you’re the one to suggest it. Honestly I’m not sure why you thought I would be helpful.”

“But you’re being helpful!” Delia protested. 

“Am I?” the nun asked. “You know Patsy so much better than me and Trixie at this point is more likely to listen to another nurse than a nun.” She fiddled with the ties of her coat, a sad smile on her face. “It’s funny. I thought I’d be done with this sort of thing when they walked me down the aisle.”

“When who walked you down the aisle?” Delia asked. 

“Patsy and Trixie,” Sister Mary Cynthia said, straddling her bike. “When I became a postulant. They walked me down the aisle to see me off.” With that she pedaled away. Delia mounted up and followed, a little bit stunned. Patsy had never mentioned she’d been part of the nun’s postulant ceremony. She felt a slight stab of envy in her chest-that the tiny nun had gotten so close to something she so desperately wanted.


	2. Chapter 2

“I told her over and over again I don’t want to date doctors!” Patsy said, trying to keep her voice below shouting level. “I thought she had finally let up pestering me about all of this and now here she goes again. As if with one word I’ll suddenly be interested in doing everything she wants.” Delia sat next to Patsy on her bed, trying not to look exasperated. Patsy was rehashing many of her same frustrations of the previous night. The slightest prompting from Delia had sent her into the same aggravated rant, and though she was trying to be supportive it was tiring. 

“I think she just wants to spend time with you Pats,” Delia said. “I’m sure if you offered up a different plan and explain you didn’t like being kept out of the loop she’d take it.” Patsy looked at her in disbelief. 

“You’re taking her side?”

“No of course not,” Delia said placing a hand on Patsy’s arm. “But I don’t think she meant any harm.”

“I thought you of all people would be horrified at me going dancing with a doctor.” Delia grimaced. 

“Believe me love, if I had any say in the matter I’d put all of the pigheaded doctors in London on the other side of the ocean.” She absentmindedly stroked her girlfriend’s forearm. “But this isn’t about doctors, it’s about Trixie.”

“Just because she didn’t mean any harm doesn’t mean she didn’t do harm,” she insisted. “And besides if I ask to do something else she’ll spend all of whatever we do wind up doing teasing me about it and-” she sighed, putting her hand in her hands. “I’m so tired of this Delia.”

“If you’re tired of this why don’t you try and make up with her?” Delia asked. 

“No not of this. Of…evading her like this.” She looked at Delia sadly. “One minute I think I’m safe. One minute I think ‘maybe I won’t have to fib to her this week.’ And then all of a sudden she’s pressing some handsome doctor on me or lamenting the fact that I don’t have a chap.” 

“I thought it was getting better,” Delia said quietly. 

“It is,” Patsy admitted. “I thought at one point that she might even suspect. But…” she shrugged her shoulders, looking defeated. “I just…feel terrible sometimes. Keeping this from her.” Delia reached up and kissed Patsy’s head. Patsy typically dealt with their secret better than Delia did, but then it was the little things that bothered Delia the most. Not being able to hold Patsy’s hand in public, having to constantly tell off men who insisted she was interested in them, not being able to show just how proud she was of being Patsy’s girl. For Patsy it seemed she could never escape thinking about the big things: the threat of losing their jobs, of public revulsion, of being rejected by their friends. 

“It’s not your fault that we have to…deal with all of this.” She took Patsy’s face in her hand. “Are you ashamed of this? Of us?”

“Of course not,” Patsy said, struggling to fight back tears. 

“Then you’re not doing anything wrong.” She smiled. “I’m not some tawdry affair with a doctor you’re too afraid to tell your friend about. You’re just trying to protect me. You shouldn’t let Trixie make you feel bad about that.” 

“She does sometimes,” Patsy admitted. “She can tell there’s a part of me I’m keeping from her, and I think it makes her feel like I’m betraying her.” Delia sighed angrily. She couldn’t help resenting the blonde nurse, that she could be angry at Patsy for the circumstances of their situation. 

“I don’t know what to tell you Pats,” Delia said sadly. 

“Well that’s a first,” Patsy said, trying to make it sound like a joke. “Do you think I was being too hard on her?” she said after a pause. 

“No,” Delia said quickly and angrily. She thought about it for a minute. “Calling her a busybody when she asked Barbara how her date went this morning was maybe a bit much.” 

“Was it?” Patsy asked uncertainly. 

“For you Pats. You’re normally so guarded that hearing you call someone a busybody is like hearing someone else call someone a heinous bitch.” 

“Delia!” Patsy objected. Delia giggled and reached up, kissing her on the face. They fell back onto the bed, holding each other quietly. Delia could tell by the way Patsy clung to her tightly that she was still upset. Upset and scared. Delia sighed, stroking her hair. 

“Look Pats,” she whispered quietly. “Trixie’s a good sort. If you say it bothers you when she brings this stuff up I’m sure she’ll take your word for it.”

“She’ll want to know why,” Patsy said. 

“If you tell her it’s your business and she should respect that as your friend, I’m sure she will.” Delia paused. “She’s going to AA right? They’re pretty big on privacy there.” Patsy sighed heavily into Delia’s shoulder. 

“What if she finds out? What if she hates us?” Delia thought of her conversation with Sister Mary Cynthia earlier that evening. There had been a kindness in the nun’s counsel that Delia had almost forgotten could exist between colleagues, and she couldn’t imagine the nun would have been so kind if she knew the secret that she was helping keep. For a moment the thought of losing that kindness was too much to bear. 

“The world is full of ‘what ifs’ Cariad,” she said softly, sitting up. She gazed at Patsy lovingly. “Especially when it comes to us. Best not to dwell on them too much.” A smile passed between them, knowing that they couldn’t help but do exactly that. 

Suddenly there was a knock on Delia’s door. Delia sprang off the bed and went to the dresser, fiddling nonchalantly with her jewelry box while Pasty hastily tried to smooth out her hair. 

“Patsy? Are you in there?” came Trixie’s voice. 

“Yes,” the redhead replied. She looked at Delia who nodded. “Come in.”

Trixie entered, looking thoroughly guilt stricken. “I’ve just been taken to task by a nun,” she said, causing Delia and Patsy to exchange astonished glances. “Which is probably a sign that I’ve been acting ridiculous.” Delia quietly snuck out of her room, leaving the two to talk. She crept down the stairs into the kitchen, where she found Sister Mary Cynthia making tea.

“What did you say to her?” Delia asked in awe. 

The nun lowered her face so it took Delia a moment to realize she was blushing. “Nothing much,” she said pouring her tea. “I just reminded her that nothing ever came of pushing someone too hard.” 

“She said that you took her to task,” Delia said. “I didn’t realize there was someone who could take Nurse Franklin to task.” 

“She exaggerates,” the nun said, taking a cup down for Delia and pouring it. The nurse thanked her and they sat down at the table, sipping them quietly. 

“Did you talk to Patsy?” she eventually asked. 

“I did,” Delia said. “She’s still upset…but she’s in more of a mindset to work things out. I think.”

“Good,” the nun said. “I don’t like seeing them fight. Patsy means so much to Trixie.” Delia pursed her lips and said nothing. While that might be true, she couldn’t help but wonder if the nurse would still regard Patsy so highly if she knew everything about her. It was a fruitless, frustrated thought Delia knew, but she couldn’t help but think it all the same. 

“Do you ever miss them?” Delia asked. 

The nun smiled. “Of course I do. But I still get to be close to them, I still get to work with them, to call them my colleagues.” She beamed at Delia. “Most women who join the order aren’t half so lucky, to get to serve with lay nurses quite like you all. For that I’m incredibly thankful.” Now it was Delia’s turn to blush at being included in the nun’s praise. 

“At least now I know what to do if they ever fight again,” Delia observed. 

“Let’s hope so,” Sister Mary Cynthia said. “I’m not sure I’d know what to do if this doesn’t work."

“A good nurse should always have multiple plans of action Sister,” Delia stated. “I know! If they fight over Christmas we can set up in the parlor and I’ll teach everyone Welsh carols,” Delia joked. “Patsy hates them. She and Trixie can hole up in their room smoking and listening to Dean Martin. They’ll be so annoyed they’ll be speaking again in no time.”

“That actually sounds rather nice,” the nun said without a hint of irony. 

Delia stared at her as if she were crazy. “You’re joking.” The nun shook her head.

“Sister Winnifred loves any sort of Christmas music. I’m sure Barbara and Nurse Crane would be interested as well. If you’re willing to teach us I’m sure we could get a lovely group together.” Delia gave the nun a wicked grin. 

“You may regret making that promise.” The nun smiled. 

“Sister Monica Joan can go either way. Some years she’s singing ‘Deck the Halls’ right after November ends and others she gets upset if we sing anything from the Christmas section of the hymnal before Advent’s over.” After a pause they started giggling so hard that they didn’t hear the two nurses walk into the kitchen. 

“Well that’s hardly proper behavior for a nun,” Patsy observed coolly. The two stopped laughing, but still couldn’t help exchanging conspiratorial smiles. 

“I feel as if we’ve been plotted against Nurse Mount,” Trixie said, sounding a little hurt. 

“We both got tired of you angrily passing the butter dish at each other,” Delia admitted with a grin. 

“Are you on speaking terms again?” the nun asked earnestly. 

“More or less,” Patsy said, giving Trixie a wry smile. “Though I’m not sure how we feel about our friends going behind our backs to get us there. Especially when one of them is a nun.” 

“Who said anything about going behind your backs?” Delia asked innocently. 

“Come on Patsy,” Trixie said, taking her arm. “Let’s go and drink our tea somewhere else since these two clearly have so much to discuss.” Patsy acquiesced, but shot Delia a questioning look as they left.

“Since when do you go to a nun for help?” Patsy asked later when they were alone again. Trixie was downstairs on call and the two lay on Patsy’s bed, Patsy in her uniform and Delia in her pajamas. The nurse yawned. 

“Sister Mary Cynthia is Nonnatus’s most seasoned expert on the interactions between Patience Mount and Beatrix Franklin,” she observed, as if she were reciting a piece of medical knowledge. “I figured if anyone would be good at resolving conflicts between you two it would be her.

“So you weren’t really concerned?” Patsy asked, hurt. “You just wanted to get us to stop griping at each other?”

“Of course I was concerned Cariad,” Delia said, reaching up to touch her face. “That’s why I wanted you to stop griping at each other.”

“But still why Cynthia?” Patsy asked. “Why not Babs or Phyllis?” Delia shrugged. 

“I guess I thought, maybe because she’s known you so long, or because she’s a nun now and more detached from the emotional affairs of us nurses, she might have some unique insights.” She smiled drowsily at Patsy. “I think it worked out alright.” 

Patsy smiled. “Trixie’s still a little miffed, and to be honest so am I. But yes, I think our friendship will survive.” She looked at Delia thoughtfully. “I guess I’m just surprised you trusted Cynthia like that.” 

Delia snuggled closer to Patsy, reveling in what body little heat she could feel between the sheets and Patsy’s uniform. The word startled her, “trust.” She realized that she did trust Sister Mary Cynthia, in a way she would not have ever predicted she would when the nun had shown her up to the tiny box room last year. 

It wasn’t enough that she felt like going to her and tearfully confessing the nature of her relationship with the nun’s old friend. But the girl had not pried, nor had she chastised Delia for being concerned in the first place. “I trust anyone who cares about you Cariad,” she said simply. “Anyone who sees what an angel you are is alright in my book.”

“I’m hardly an angel,” Patsy said. 

“Prove it,” Delia said cheekily. The offer was tempting for the redhead, but she settled for one deep kiss before getting up from the bed and going to her own room to wait if Trixie was called out. “I love you,” the Welsh girl whispered as Patsy left. The tall nurse paused and smiled gratefully back at her. The phrase still felt dangerous, and they only said it when the other was in desperate need of support, always in quiet tones, always with an underlying sense of fear. As Patsy turned out the light, and Delia rolled over to go to sleep she indulged the feeling of the words on her tongue. She pictured Patsy and Trixie laughing again. She pictured their fleet of midwives, nuns and otherwise, mounted on bikes, united and unflappable. She pictured singing Welsh carols in the living room, and Patsy’s delightfully annoyed face. 

She smiled and went to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I have always been intrigued by a Delia/Sister Mary Cynthia friendship so this may appear a lot in future fic.


End file.
